


giving feels even better than receiving

by joshwrites



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Family Feels, Fluff, Gift Giving, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 22:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16752712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshwrites/pseuds/joshwrites
Summary: It's Christmas Eve and Charity's gifts for Vanessa still haven't arrived.





	giving feels even better than receiving

**Author's Note:**

> uhh, so hi! 
> 
> i'm back after like seven months, woop! so my motivation and writers block has been kicking me up the rear end for months and months now but i finally found enough motivation to write this lil fic. it might turn into a multi-chapter fic full of christmas prompts if enough people want it and i have the inspo to write it!! 
> 
> i liked writing this but it has been a while so if it's a bit shit it's just because i'm out of practice. but anyway, enjoy, leave kudos and let me know what you think!

Okay. This was bad. This was so typically fucking awful that really she shouldn’t be at all surprised that this has happened to her. She roughly ran a hand through her dishevelled hair with an exasperated breath.  
  
  
  
It was Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve and the presents she had ordered to arrive were **still** not here. Last time she fucking trusted Amazon for anything.  
  
  
  
She didn’t know what to do. It was quarter to four on Christmas Eve and she had nothing to give Vanessa tomorrow, because the stupid fucking delivery hadn’t arrived when it said it would.  
  
  
  
All the kid’s presents were sorted, she thankfully had bought them all from a shop so that was easy and sorted and fine.  
  
  
  
But Vanessa. Right now, she had nothing.  
  
  
  
She couldn’t just turn up tomorrow at Tug Ghyll with presents for Johnny and nothing for his mother.  
  
  
  
Shit. Shit. Shit.  
  
  
  
Think, Charity.  
  
  
  
The only thing she could do now is go out on a search and try and buy something last minute from the shops.  
  
  
  
But she was running out of time. And fast.  
  
  
  
The shops close early on Christmas Eve, if they even decided to open at all.  
  
  
  
“Gah!” She blew out a frustrated breath before pulling her coat off the hook, quickly shrugging it on over her shoulders and slinging her bag over her arm.  
  
  
  
At least she didn’t have to worry about the kids, Moses and Johnny were ‘round Debbie’s with Ryan. She had a short while before she was due to pick them up, so she needed to hurry for **two** reasons.  
  
  
  
She ran out to her car and sped away at a speed that definitely was not legal. But when had that ever stopped her before?  
  
  
  
She drummed her fingers anxiously against the steering wheel as she drove towards town, trying to think of what shop she could go in and what exactly to buy Vanessa. She wasn’t the **easiest** person to buy for. Not by a long shot.  
  
  
  
She stopped and parked down the high street before jumping out and marching past shop by shop, searching for where to go.  
  
  
  
Closed. Closed. Closing. Closed. Closed.  
  
  
  
This was a fucking nightmare.  
  
  
  
How was she ever supposed to buy Vanessa everything with everywhere closing?  
  
  
  
She finally came across a Boots that was still open so quickly popped inside. What on earth could she get her in here? A bathroom set? Nah. Perfume? Doesn’t need any. There really was nothing of any worth she could get in here.  
  
  
  
With another frustrated sigh, she left the shop. Empty handed.  
  
  
  
She continued up the street, passing more closed shops before she came to another shop. It was a small shop on the corner, looked like it was full of handmade gifts. She thought it couldn’t hurt to go inside.  
  
  
  
She nosied around, picking up knick knack after knick knack, turning them over in her hands before replacing it back on the shelf. Nothing was jumping out at her for her to buy. Sure, they were cute. Something a grandma would love. But nothing that was, **Vanessa.  
  
  
  
**She was starting to lose hope.  
  
  
  
With slumped shoulders she exits the shop.  
  
  
  
The wind blew her hair around her face as she looked first left and then right down the mostly deserted high street.  
  
  
  
There was just nothing she could this last minute that would be good enough to give Vanessa.  
  
  
  
They both had had an eventful year and she really wanted to give Vanessa a present that meant something, something that would show her just how much she appreciated all her support throughout the year. Something to show her just how much she loved and appreciated her.  
  
  
  
But that’s not the kind of thing you can buy last minute.  
  
  
  
“Fuck sake.” She muttered under her breath as she started trudging back to her car parked the other end of the street.  
  
  
  
“It needs to be something personal.” She pondered aloud and that’s when it **clicked.** She knew exactly what to give her. And it wasn’t going to cost a thing.  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
She had just put Moses to bed. It just took a quick reading of ‘Duck, Duck, Goose’ and he was out like a light and she was **grateful** for that. She smiled down at him fondly, brushing the hair out of his eyes before pressing a light kiss to his forehead. "Merry Christmas, Moses.” She whispered before leaving the room, leaving his door ajar so she could check on him again when she came up to bed.  
  
  
  
She could hear the light sounds of Noah’s television on in the other room and rolled her eyes, trusting that he would fall asleep eventually.  
  
  
  
She walked back downstairs and entered the family room. She still hadn’t found the time to sort out and wrap Vanessa’s present so now the kids were in bed, now was the perfect time to do it. She headed into the kitchen and poured herself a small glass of wine before settling on the couch. She had rooted in her drawers earlier looking for the exact thing she wanted and after a solid ten minutes she had finally found it.  
  
  
  
Her spare key.  
  
  
  
The key symbolised a lot.  
  
  
  
She turned it over in her hands a couple times, a smile curving her lips.  
  
  
  
She thought about what this means. Was she really going to ask Vanessa and Johnny to move in with her?  
  
  
  
Charity thought it over in her head and she couldn’t think of one single reason why not, they were always at one place or another. Tug Ghyll or The Woolpack. It was very rare that they would spend the night apart.   
  
  
  
Tonight was an exception.  
  
  
  
The more she thought about it the more she wanted it. She wanted to always wake up knowing that Vanessa was beside her, that their boys were together and happy.   
  
  
  
This logically seemed like the next step.  
  
  
  
Commitment used to terrify her. Especially when it came to Vanessa.  
  
  
  
Because it was new and felt different. **Better.** **  
****  
  
  
**She knew this was different from all her other past relationships and not just because Vanessa was a woman.  
  
  
  
She’d had flings with women in the past. Zoe. Prison. The odd one night stand.  
  
  
  
But this felt different to all of that. It was more organic and real and she really really didn’t want to mess it up.  
  
  
  
So in the beginning she tried to avoid all that, tried to keep her real feelings from coming up to the surface as much as she could. Tried to convince herself that ‘no strings attached’ was all she wanted and all she would ever want with Vanessa.  
  
  
  
But she was lying. She knew it. And so did Vanessa.  
  
  
  
She just had to push her a little bit for her to give in. And when she did, everything just seemed to fall into place. In a neat little line.  
  
  
  
And she hasn’t looked back from that moment.  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
She rubbed her thumb across the shiny metal one more time before placing it in the small box she had found. It was the perfect size to hold the key and she stuffed tissue paper inside to nestle the key perfectly in place.   
  
  
  
She closed the lid of the box and then started to wrap the box in cheesy generic Christmas wrapping paper. She hated wrapping presents. She was awful at it.   
  
  
  
She didn’t know how Vanessa did it. Every present she’d ever received from her or seen her wrap, looked perfectly. All neat and tied up with a little bow.   
  
  
  
Typical.    
  
  
  
Vanessa was an expert in all this kind of stuff.   
  
  
  
Charity tried her best though. She cut the paper in the straightest line she could possibly manage but she’d already cut way too big of a piece for this small box. But she couldn’t be bothered cutting it again, so if she had wrap the paper around the box twice then so be it.   
  
  
  
She placed the box in the centre of the paper and began to wrap it around, sloppily placing tape on the ends to hold in place.    
  
  
  
She let out an annoyed breath as it already looked a right mess but she had started it now.    
  
  
  
She folded the ends in and wrapped the excess paper around the box until it was tightly wound. Placing tape wherever it was needed. And even in some places it didn’t. It would have to do.   
  
  
  
Finally finished, she turned the wrapped box in her hands. It looked a little haphazard but it definitely could have looked worse.    
  
  
  
Somewhat satisfied with how it turned out, she placed the box in her bag, ready to take it over to Vanessa’s in the morning.   
  
  
  
She glanced up at the clock and saw it read 12:04am. Officially Christmas.   
  
  
  
She finished off her glass of wine before leaving it in the kitchen and heading on up to bed.   
  
  
  
Poking her head through Moses’ door, she saw he was still fast asleep, cuddling his bunny teddy close to his chest. She carried on to her own bedroom at the end of the hall. Noticing on her way the silence in Noah’s room.   
  
  
  
Just before she got into bed, she heard her phone ping so she slid it out of her pocket to find a new text message from Vanessa.   
  
  
  
It simply read:  _ Merry Christmas Babe x _ _  
_ _  
  
  
_ Just those three simple words caused warmth to burst in her chest and a soft smile to form on her lips. She quickly typed a reply back before placing her phone on her bedside table and changing for bed.    
  
  
  
After an exhausting day it only took mere minutes from her head hitting the pillow for her to fall into a deep sleep.   
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Morning rolled around fast. Charity woke up with a groan to find Moses jumping up on her bed, clumsily rolling around and calling her name.    
  
  
  
“Alright, alright. M’up, m’up.” She grunted as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.    
  
  
  
“Why don’t you go wake Noah up, hmm?”    
  
  
  
She encouraged her very excited toddler who nodded enthusiastically and jumped back off her bed. “‘Kay.’ He ran out of her room and barged his way into Noah’s. The muffled grunts and groans she heard coming from his room brought a smile to her face.   
  
  
  
She got everyone up and dressed and sorted in good time. Moses was bouncing up and down wanting to open his presents but she told him she couldn’t until they got to Vanessa’s where they would all open presents together. He pouted for about sixth seconds before she reminded him that Johnny would be there and then he was excited again to see his best friend.   
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
They were outside the front door of Tug Ghyll at exactly 11am, her hand holding onto Moses’ small one and Noah to her right, slumped miserably wearing a hoodie that covered up the majority of his tired face.   
  
  
  
“Oi, wake up will you?” She elbowed Noah in his ribs who jumped and grunted something unintelligible back at her before straightening up and looking  _ slightly _ more alert.    
  
  
  
They could hear footsteps nearing the door before it was finally yanked open to see Ness, hair slightly all over the place, flushed face and wearing the most hideous Christmas jumper Charity had ever seen.   
  
  
  
Charity snorted at the sight of her dishevelled girlfriend, which got her a steely glare in return.   
  
  
  
Noah just shook his head with a sarcastic smile before muttering under his breath. “That is tragic.”   
  
  
  
Vanessa took in a deep breath ignoring them before opening her door wider. “Come in, you lot. Ryan said he’d be here in about an hour. Just in time for lunch.”   
  
  
  
Noah brushed past and went straight for the sofa, picking up the remote to flick the television on while Moses tugged at Charity’s hand until she let go and he ran towards where Johnny was playing in the middle of the living room. She could hear him squeal with delight and when she looked over she could see the two boys embraced in a tight hug.   
  
  
  
Every time she saw the two boys together, she felt something light up in her chest.    
  
  
  
Last through the door, Charity paused to press a soft kiss to Vanessa’s lips. “Merry Christmas.” She breathed against her mouth before moving past her and heading into the living room. There were decorations in every direction possible, she was almost blindsided by some hanging tinsel in the doorway.    
  
  
  
She walked on through to the kitchen and could hear Vanessa following behind.    
  
  
  
She placed her bag down on the table and could feel Vanessa stepping up behind her, wrapping her arms around her waist and pressing a kiss to the nape of the neck. Charity hummed, her eyes falling closed for a moment. She turned in her arms to press another smiling kiss to Vanessa’s lips, looping her arms loosely around her neck.    
  
  
  
There was a moment of silence where they just gazed each other with matching smiles on their lips before Charity broke the silence.   
  
  
  
“What the fuck are you wearing?”   
  
  
  
Vanessa burst out laughing, pulling away.   
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Things wound down after the lunch. Ryan had made it just in time and now he was spread out across the couch, fast asleep after watching The Grinch. Noah was in a similar position, slumped over the armchair in the corner with his head back and mouth wide open as he slept. His neck was going to be killing him when he woke up.   
  
  
  
Charity couldn’t pass this opportunity up though so she pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened up the camera app, quickly snapping photos of the sleeping Ryan and Noah and saving them for a rainy day.   
  
  
  
Moses and Johnny, still bursting with energy were playing on the living room floor with their new toys. Apparently it was out with the dinosaurs and in with the robots now. She could hear them making mechanical noises as they played with their robot figures.    
  
  
  
They had all opened presents just after lunch but Charity had been saving her present. She promised Vanessa she would get hers later, when everything was a bit quieter. Noah had received some new games and a gift card so he could get whatever he wanted, which he seemed to really appreciate. Moses and Johnny had got new toys and cuddly teddies. Ryan had got a new guitar, it wasn’t anything top of the range but it was still in pretty decent shape and he seemed thrilled to ribbons when he opened it. So, all in all, she thought she did pretty good on the present front this year.   
  
  
  
Definitely outdoing herself from previous years where she hadn’t made much effort at all. But, this year was different.   
  
  
  
Vanessa had pulled Charity aside to give her her present, wanting a little more privacy.   
  
  
  
She was holding the neatly wrapped present nervously in her hands, fidgeting as she refused to look Charity in the eyes. “It’s not much, it’s just something — you know — here, just open it.” She thrusted the present into her hands with a little more force than necessary. Charity raised her eyebrows and Vanessa just shot her a guilty look before looking back down at her fidgeting hands.   
  
  
  
She cleared her throat before beginning to unwrap it.    
  
  
  
“I just thought it would be nice you know, of us all together.” Vanessa rambled as she turned the object over in her hands. It was a picture frame. But it was what was inside the picture frame that was important.   
  
  
  
It was a picture of all of them. Charity, Vanessa, Noah, Moses, Johnny and you could see even Ryan poking his head in the background. A bright smile pulled at the edges of her mouth. She remembered that day. Very well. They had all gone to the beach, it was a great day. She remembered at the end of it when the sun was starting to set and they were all flushed, covered in sweat and starting to turn pink from the long exposure to the sun and Vanessa had stopped a stranger in the the street to come and take their picture. They were gracious enough to do so.   
  
  
  
Vanessa handed over an actual camera, which she thought weird. Didn’t everyone just use the cameras in their phones now-a-days?   
  
  
  
This might just be her favourite picture of them, of all of them. They all looked so happy. It was rare to have that.   
  
  
  
Looking at the beaming smiles of all her children staring back at her through the picture frame caused her eyes to well up slightly with water. But they were happy tears. For once, they were happy tears.   
  
  
  
Charity took in a deep breath and slowly released it, steeling herself and pushing back the tears that were so ready to fall. She finally looked up to Vanessa’s nervous face and gave her a watery smile. “I love it, it’s perfect.” She pulled her into a one arm hug as the other hand tightly clutched the picture frame.   
  
  
  
“Thanks, Ness.” She whispered before pressing a light kiss to her cheek and pulling back.    
  
  
  
They were then interrupted with Noah calling out and asking when the roast dinner was going to be ready. Charity rolled her eyes with a small huff before promising Ness she would get her present later.  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
A lot of time passed.   
  
  
  
Ryan left around six. The boys crashed around seven thirty, so they tucked them up in bed and then they sat around and watch telly for a bit until Noah decided to head on up to bed as well. Or maybe that was just an excuse to get away from the two of them judging by the faces he kept pulling every time they would snuggle up or kiss or even  **look** at each other.   
  
  
  
Finally, peace at last.   
  
  
  
It was nearing Eleven and Charity had almost forgotten about Vanessa’s present until she felt her nudging her with her elbow as her eyes were drooping closed.   
  
  
  
“Shit. Right, wait there.” Charity exclaimed as she jumped up and headed over to the banister where she had hung her bag up earlier. Vanessa just followed with her eyes, a small giggle leaving her lips.   
  
  
  
Charity opened up her bag and pulled out the badly wrapped box before walking back over to the sofa where Vanessa still sat.   
  
  
  
“Okay, so this is kind of a big deal, but not really.” Charity started off by saying before handing over the present to Vanessa.   
  
  
  
Vanessa nodded her head, one eyebrow rising in question before she looked for somewhere to start unwrapping. This was made difficult with the amount of haphazard tape that Charity had put on it.   
  
  
  
“It would help if I could open the sodding thing.” Vanessa grumbled and she tried and failed once again to pull back a bit of paper as it was trapped by copious amounts of sellotape.   
  
  
  
“You went a bit overboard on the tape, didn’t you?” She snorted before finally bringing the box up to her lips so she could dig her teeth into the paper and rip it open. After a couple of tries and contemplating just getting up and grabbing some scissors to get the damn thing open, she finally managed to get into it.    
  
  
  
“Fucking finally.” Vanessa huffed, finally having an opening she pulled the rest of the paper off until she was just holding a small cardboard box.    
  
  
  
Vanessa arched an eyebrow as she looked up at Charity who was looking as nervous as she was earlier.   
  
  
  
“Wait, wait, just before you open it. I want to say something.” Charity started reaching out to grab one of Vanessa’s hands.   
  
  
  
“Don’t— don’t feel any pressure with this. If you don’t want to do it, it’s fine. It’s just, you know, an option.” Charity rambled before letting out a nervous breath and pulling her hand back, giving Vanessa a small nod to open the box.   
  
  
  
Vanessa pulled off the box lid and saw what was inside. A key buried in far too much tissue paper. That seemed to be a theme with Charity’s wrapping. Too much paper. Too much sellotape and too much tissue paper. But Vanessa appreciated it all the same, the fact that Charity had even gone to this much effort was a surprise to her. A nice surprise.   
  
  
  
“I—” Vanessa paused, the words stuck in the back of her throat. She knew what this meant. She knew what this symbolises and this was  **huge.** **  
** **  
  
  
** “Are you sure?” She looked up at Charity hesitantly and she pulled the key from the box.    
  
  
  
“Yeah.” Charity confirmed instantly, scooting closer to her on the couch. “I mean, it makes sense doesn’t it? Come live with me, in the pub. I know it’s a bit cramped but we could make it work. You and Johnny. Me, Moses and Noah. All under one roof.” The hopeful, beaming look on Charity’s face completely melted her heart.    
  
  
  
“I— Okay. Yeah, I’d love to Charity. But, if it **does** get too crowded over there. Maybe you could, you know, come here. You’re here pretty much all the time anyway or we could, I don’t know, even look for somewhere new, bigger. For all of us. Tracy would get her space back and you’d be out of Chas’ hair. We wouldn’t be getting interrupted all the time...” Vanessa spoke softly, inching her face closer. Her eyes darting from Charity’s eyes to her lips rhythmically.   
  
  
  
Charity paused for a second as she thought it over. “Yeah, I like that idea.” She grinned before pulling Vanessa into a passionate kiss, both of their bodies melting into each other.   
  
  
  
“Me too.” Vanessa whispered back as she blindly placed the key on the coffee table beside her as she pushed Charity back on the couch until she was reclining, Vanessa following her down without their lips ever parting.   
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you think!


End file.
